Pyrénée is a French graphic novel (bande dessinée) written by Régis Loisel and drawn by Philippe Sternis.

When a devastating earthquake strikes a small town in the French Pyrenees, a bear escapes from a circus. On the outskirts of town the bear discovers a small girl, newly-orphaned by the quake, playing with a teddy bear. The design of the cars and clothing suggest that all this takes place some time during the 1950s.

Some paternal instinct causes the bear to take the girl with him into the remote mountains and raise her as his cub. Like a female version of Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli she learns to hunt and fish and talk to animals. Also like Mowgli (as originally described by Kipling) she is naked and unashamed for most of the book. This has caused some criticism, although Sternis insists that the nudity is tasteful.

The main part of the story takes place when Pyrénée is about 12 years old - i. e., in the mid-1960s.

At first her life with the bear seems idyllic. The bear explains that he named her after the mountain range; she wonders if that might not be confusing. The bear hates lightning, but Pyrénée finds it exhilarating. She picks flowers, which the bear considers wasteful, but she reminds him that he tramples flowers. Back at their cave, their neighbour the fox brings them a rabbit for dinner.

Shortly afterward Pyrénée is badly stung by bees while trying to gather honey for the bear. Later, after rolling in some soothing herbs, she happens to sit on an anthill.

Pyrénée asks the bear for some salmon, putting him off his catch. He "patiently" suggests she try catching her own.

While attempting to catch salmon with her bare hands, Pyrénée notices something in the river. It is a glass bottle - one of the few man-made artifacts she has seen. The bear does not see the use of it, but she soon discovers that she can it to carry water and make music of sorts by blowing over the top. She is so preoccupied with her new toy that she fails to notice that the bear is also preoccupied.

Meanwhile the fox tells Pyrénée he has heard the call of nature and become a father. Pyrénée does not understand, but he tells her she will in time.

Pyrénée finally notices the bear's distraction. He tells her he has fallen in love with a female bear and has to mate with her and give her cubs. Pyrénée is devastated. He insists that he still loves her, just not in the same way. Pyrénée demands to know why he can't have cubs with her. He tries to explain but does not have the words to describe the difference between them. Pyrénée becomes so frustrated that she smashes her bottle, cutting her hand.

Next morning the bear wakes to discover that Pyrénée has fastened the collar about his neck. She thinks that if she holds his chain she can keep him with her, but he is so enraged at being treated like a captive once more that he comes close to killing her, only managing to restrain himself at the last moment. Sobered by the incident, Pyrénée removes the bear's collar and they sit together in silence.

The bear suggests that while he is busy, Pyrénée should visit "The Ancient", who lives on higher ground and will be able to explain what she is. After a long and difficult climb, Pyrénée finds only a blind old eagle who lives in a cave behind a waterfall. The cave contains a number of strange objects which the eagle tells her once belonged to The Ancient.

Later, the eagle shows Pyrénée a weathered skeleton and tells that it was one of her own kind - a man. It then dawns on her that the man was in fact the Ancient, and that he has been dead for some years.

While coming to terms with this knowledge, she also has to deal with the fact that winter is approaching and she has to find something to eat and keep her warm.

In the cave Pyrénée dscovers a cache of tin cans which the eagle tells her contain food. She eventually discovers how to use an accompanying can opener and gorges herself sick.

When the winter snow sets in the eagle shows Pyrénée a fur coat and boots that were once worn by the Ancient, and she uses them to keep warm while exploring with the eagle - the only time since infancy that she has worn clothing.

While exploring in the snow she discovers the remains of a campfire, perhaps only hours old, and burns her hand. Her discomfort is forgotten when she discovers another bottle nearby (from its distinctive shape it is obviously a Coca-Cola bottle).

When spring arrives Pyrénée finally perfects the knack of catching fish bare-handed. Soon afterward she and the eagle descend to the bear's cave. The bear tells her it is time she returned to humanity. Thanks to the wisdom she has learned from the bear, the fox and the eagle she now has the confidence to do so. The bear keeps teddy and gives Pyrénée his collar in exchange.

As Pyrénée walks away, the bear and eagle have a conversation in which the bear calls the eagle "Ancient". The final panel shows Pyrénée as she will first be seen by people - nude, her hair bound up with twigs, wearing the bear's collar and chain around her neck.

See also: Feral children in mythology and fiction

External links

• A fan page (http://wildatheart94.tripod.com/pyrenee.htm) (in English)
• Entretien avec Philippe Sternis (en Francais) (http://www.auracan.com/Interviews/Sternis/Sternis1.html)